The 3-in-1 Digital Compass

For those of you that enjoy wandering aimlessly throughout the summer months, you might want a little something extra to give you a little direction. Of course then it stops being wandering aimlessly and instead just simply wandering. This 3-in-1 gadget will make sure to point you in the right direction. Of course you’ll have to know what the right direction is, so you’re on your own there.

It’s of course a compass, but a digital one, instead of being the classic type. In addition to the compass function, it also has a clock to keep track of the time. Then a thermometer to let you know how warm or cold it is outside. Anyone else find it a little silly that they tell you the temperature? Especially when it’s likely that you’re already standing outdoors while you’re using it. Perhaps you could use it while you’re camping. Hold it outside of your tent long enough to find out how cool it is, before you decide to crawl out from under the warm covers. The LCD screen, that gives all of the information, can be tilted to make it easier for you to read it. You can purchase the compass for $25 from Gadget4all.

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The always stylish Metal Detecting Sandals

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Alright so you won’t be setting any kind of fashion statement with these, but the full sized metal detector that is typically seen, isn’t exactly classy either. So it’s safe to say that most that use a metal detector aren’t entirely concerned with how they look. Plus this way you don’t have to really carry anything, just wear a goofy pair of sandals and you’re set. Plus if you’re wearing pants, no one will even see the strange black box attached to your leg.

On the right sandal is a copper coil built into it, that is powered by the awkward looking battery pack that wraps around your leg. When you come within 2′ of a metal object it alerts you in one of two ways. It flashes a light and then you can either set it to gently vibrate or give a much louder buzzing noise. To keep the pack up and going, it requires a 9V battery, which is of course not included. That battery will get you up to six hours of use while you’re out wandering the beach. They offer both men’s and women’s sizes. You can purchase them for $59.95 from Hammacher and Schlemmer.

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Insect repeller for summer

With summer having arrived, it is time to start the annual battle with pesky insects as well as other creepy crawlies who love to do nothing better than irritate you out of your skin by their mere presence in and around your home. Apart from keeping a huge collection of anteaters as well as spiders to capture those winged nemesis of yours, why not consider the Insect Repeller instead?

Insect Repeller is a small handheld environmentally-friendly gadget that plugs into any UK mains socket and emits an advanced high power variable ultrasonic wave and an electromagnetic wave to ward off unwanted pests and protect you and your home. Inaudible to humans and harmless to your pet cat and dog, the ultra sonic pest repeller consumes very little power and outdates messy traps and chemically-laden sprays. Once plugged in and switched on this 2-in-1 insect and rodent repeller protects 250 square meters, which is roughly the size of the average three bedroom home, giving you a healthy amount of breathing space between you and world’s critters.

Sounds like £12.95 well-spent if you’re going to bring home the Insect Repeller this summer.

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Off Brand version of Wii Fit Balance Board

If you want to play games that utilize the Wii Balance Board, but don’t want to spend the money on the actual Wii board, now you can get an off brand one. It doesn’t come with the game, like the Balance Board does, but it is cheaper. Plus it has nifty blue non-slip grips that stick onto the top of it for those that are coordination challenged. It hopefully is just as accurate as the actual brand name version. Sometimes buying off brand gaming accessories ends up not being a good idea.

This one comes from Chinavasion and it’s really a debate as to how good of a deal it is to purchase this. Considering the actual Wii Fit will cost you $89.99 and this one from Chinavasion will cost $67.91. It is cheaper, but it only has a Balance Board and nothing else. For those that somehow manage to break their Balance Board though, this might be a better idea than buying the real version.

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Logitech Harmony Adapter announced

PS3 owners, sit up and take notice - Logitech has just announced that its Logitech Harmony Adapter for the PS3 is readily available, letting you use your Harmony universal remote control with Sony’s latest gaming console. It will offer support for all 51 PS3 commands (yes, count them!), where you will be able to navigate the PS3 XrossMediaBar from afar (as long as the range permits, that is) without having to tussle with the PS3 controller’s form factor that was meant more for gaming than anything else. Those who are interested can pick up the Logitech Harmony Adapter for $59.99 while our friends across the pond can only do so in July.

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Chaos Stickers help outlets stand out

Typically people try to clean up and hide their cords and don’t want to draw attention to their outlets. Lately though people have been getting creative with their cords and instead of hiding them, decorating them. Which makes it only logical that eventually outlets would get their own strange form of décor. Not just some silly face plate that gives it a cheesy design. Instead, it’s a sticker that manages to utilize the outlet to spruce up the plain wall it sits on.

These very large decals stick directly to your wall, provided your wall is a normal texture. With these around, not only would you not be concealing the outlets, but you’d be doing a great job at making them stick out. No one could possibly walk past the sticker and not manage to notice it. Due to the fact that the website is in a foreign language, it makes it difficult to be sure on the price. However, it appears that a set of these goes for $71. If you do decide to pick them up, you’ll have to pay the price for them to be shipped out of the country.

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iHome Studio Series iP1

It is always refreshing to see what iHome is up to. Last time, we covered the small iHM77RC Portable Multimedia Speakers, but iHome has really upped its game as far as iPod/iPhone docks are concerned.

The iP1 Studio Series Model has “museum quality” speakers, which apparently means they are made up of smoked acrylic. It is nice to know that someone has finally made an iPod dock that looks like a boom box. After all, iPod and iPhone docks are a dime a dozen, but the iP1 looks like an iPod dock on crack.

According to the specs, these speakers are “100 watt class D biamplified architecture with Bongiovi sound processing through twin 4-inch woofers and matched 1-inch dome tweeters”. If you aren’t familiar with Bongiovi, he is a music producer, and the second cousin of Jon Bon Jovi. Yes, Tony Bongiovi invented the Acoustics Digital Power Station, “an active digital signal processor that the company says makes the MP3s sound better”.

This Digital Power Station is on the iP1. Other features include GSM shielding for the iPhone, and a video out port in case you want to watch video from the iPod or iPhone.

The iHome Studio Series iP1 will be available in July, for a projected retail price of about $300.

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Digi-Photo Frame mug

Here's a travel mug with something a little different - a digital photo frame is fastened to the side allowing you to share your photos with your co-workers and friends, and anyone else within sipping distance. Made of impact-resistant plastic and insulated with 18/8 stainless steel. 1Mb of memory lets you save 45 photos and carry them anywhere you go.

Includes:

* Analog & Digital Clock Display
* 1-1/2” Digital Color Display
* Built-In Plus-n-Play Softwarre
* Built-In Rechargeable Lithium Battery
* Upload: both BMP and JPG images
* Back Light Control
* Compatible: Windows 2000 and XP

At Digi-Mug - Digital Photo Frame Mug

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Cluster Bomb for seed planting

Anti War activists hate cluster bombs – mostly because they can be used to deploy anti personnel mines which don’t get picked up long after the last bullet has been fired. And when they go off, even children are victims. But can the technology be harnessed for more constructive and green purposes? Designer Hwang Jin Wook seems to think so and as such, he came up with the “Seedbomb.”

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The concept is amazingly simple and represents the coolness of out of the box thinking. Instead of tiny bombs known as “bomblets” or anti personnel mines, the SeedBomb has Seed capsules aligned in a cluster configuration. Each cluster of capsules is packed into a single bomb with dozens of others and when the bomb reaches optimum altitude, the clusters are released to embed all around the impact area. Each capsule contains soil and seeds housed in a biodegradable plastic. The soil is packed with plant rich nutrients and moisture enough to allow the plant seed to germinate (the plastic canister acts as a defacto greenhouse) and grow until the plant can sustain itself. As the plant matures, the biodegradable plastic canister deteriorates until there’s nothing left.

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The idea is brilliant for deploying to areas stricken by desertification or deforestation. And It’s easy to see the Forestry department using them to reseed areas that have recently fallen victim to wildfires or bark beetle infestation. But can just planting plants change an environment? Not on it’s own, but if you consider that with all the golf courses it has, that the average temperature of Palm Springs has DROPPED 20 degrees in the last 25 years, it’s worth looking at.

Hat Tip – Our friends at Yanko


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Electric operated GoCycle Bike

As information becomes easier to disseminate these days, it is no surprise that more and more people are taking up the environmentally friendly route, making choices that will affect our eco-system positively. While there has been some progress, there remains a whole lot more work to be done in the long run. One of the ways to do your part is choosing green forms of transport, and the GoCycle electric bicycle is a decent option if you do plenty of intra-city travel. This is the world’s lightest production electric bicycle, tipping the scales at just 16.2kg. Despite its small size, it is able to move you for around 20 miles before requiring a recharge, and at a top speed of 15mph to boot. Recharge time currently stands at 3.5 hours, and the £1,158 price point will come with a sealed-for-life chain, a decent suspension system to prevent sore buttocks and three-speed gearing.

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New accessories for Nintendo DSi

Thrustmaster is more often a name synonymous with joysticks for computers for those who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, but they’re still around to this day without really releasing anything groundbreaking to date - which is rather surprising, actually. Well, as long as they’re around, it is interesting to note their new releases for the gaming world. This time round, they’ve delved into the arena of portable gaming machines, with the recently released Nintendo DSi being their target. Thrustmaster has revealed a couple of intelligent charging solutions that are well-suited to the multiple applications offered by this highly innovative, yet power-consuming handheld console.

The Nintendo DSi isn’t a large handheld console by any means, and if you’ve played both the DS and the PSP, you’ll know what I mean. The former might even be a wee bit too small for those with large hands, and many people have already complained about experiencing cramps after prolonged hours of gaming. Well, Thrustmaster has something for the lazy with the T-Standee Charger, a multi-position docking station that boasts a streamlined and elegant design which allows the DSi to be charged while being able to play without having to expend additional energy in holding it.

Of course, as one knows, the Nintendo DSi isn’t only a gaming machine as it can be used to surf the Internet, mix music and even view photos and videos with the right kind of software. We would say this comes in handy when you’re lazing around in your bed and want something else to prop the DSi up at your convenience. In addition, the rotating mechanism is perfect for users to adjust the console’s angle in all directions. This amount of flexibility paves the way for optimum comfort, regardless of whether you’re in the midst of a horizontally or vertically aligned game at that point in time.

The other accessory from Thrustmaster is the first personal charger for DSi and DS Lite which has been integrated straight into the console’s wrist strap, known as the T-Strap Charger. The T-Strap Charger looks like a standard wrist strap complete with a safety slider, albeit with the addition of a clever charging case. The case can be divided into 2, revealing a couple of charging connectors where one of them is hooked up to the console while the other connects to a powered USB port.

The T-Standee Charger and T-Strap Charger will retail for $12.99 and $7.99, respectively, with the former hitting retail stores this June while the latter will be out in mid-May.

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The Monster Speakers for the young at heart

If you’re buying speakers for a kid or just a kid at heart, this would be a fun one to have around. It’s not really a great portable speaker to carry everywhere, but it’d be nice to sit at home. It’s especially good for the younger crowd since this monster has a mohawk packed full of color changing LED lights. It’d even be great to keep a toddler giggling since he sways side to side along with the music. Giving your music a much more interesting twist.

The Rocky The Monster Speaker will work for any MP3 player you can hook up to a 3.5mm jack. You can plug it up to the wall for power or pop 4 AA batteries into it for portable power. The AC adapter is not included, but oddly the 4 AA batteries are included. Since it does so much, I’d think the batteries would die quickly, so it’d probably be better to pick up the adapter. You can purchase Rocky from Gadgetz 4 All for £24.95 or about $37.

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Coby MP3 Player with 1GB Flash Memory and Speaker System

Keeping music going can sometimes be a pricey task. If you pick up an iPod, even the smallest of them, the Shuffle, it’s still expensive. Then if you want portable speakers you have even more money coming out of pocket. If you aren’t that worried about having the absolute best sound quality out there, it is possible to bargain hunt. Likely this is one of the cheapest deals you’ll find to help with your music fix.

It offers a 1GB flash memory combined with a stereo speaker system. It’ll play MP3 and WMA music files. Although 1GB isn’t much, there are likely those out there that really don’t need something with a lot of storage. Plus the smaller drives are better for taking around with you to the gym or other places when you need extreme portability. It doesn’t come with a set of earbuds, but at least you’ll have a set of speakers. The speakers can hook up to anything with a 3.5mm stereo plug. You can purchase this set for the extremely affordable price of $14.09 from Amazon.

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Circulation Improving Leg Wraps

Sitting in one position for far too long? You’d best get up from time to time to get the blood circulating in the lower part of your body, but for those who can’t afford the luxury of doing that due to never-ending datelines, there is always the Circulation Improving Leg Wraps.

These leg wraps inflate and deflate to improve circulation, soothe sore muscles, and reduce swelling in your lower extremities. Similar to hospital compression boots that stimulate circulation in sedentary patients, the leg wraps have six airbags that wrap around the entire leg and inflate and deflate to help blood vessels expand and contract. The compression intervals stimulate circulation in the thighs, hamstrings, calves, and feet and help facilitate blood flow back to the heart. The corded remote allows you to select from three levels of intensity and choose from seven programs that pinpoint different areas and at varying intervals. Adjustable Velcro closures ensure optimal fit for all sizes. Plugs into AC.

Guess only folks in First and Business Class will be able to use this when flying since those cabins come with built-in AC outlets, which is kinda ironic as they have all the legroom in the world. Hopefully more and more airlines will throw in AC outlets into economy class seats in the future. The Circulation Improving Leg Wraps can be purchased for $149.95.

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Cell pack and Wi-fi in a box

It looks as though the in-thing these days is to remain connected at all times, and the Cell-PAK 3G + Wi-Fi HotSpot in a box certainly looks set to fit the bill. This highly portable device offers instant secure broadband Internet connectivity for those who are always on the go without having to rely on external power or carry around additional wires. Targeting businesses and individuals who rely on mission-critical wireless communications to get the job done, the new Cell-PAK 3G + Wi-Fi HotSpot in a box from Proxicast is a wireless “grab & go” solution, enabling mobile wide-area cellular Internet connectivity (WWAN) and local 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi access (WLAN) without cramping your style courtesy of its commercial-grade LAN-Cell 2 mobile 3G cellular router.

Whenever you’re in unfamiliar territory where wired communications infrastructure is unavailable, damaged or overloaded, the Proxicast Cell PAK will step in as an able substitute, offering crucial fast, effective and reliable high-speed cellular broadband communications. It is essential to have this if you happen to live in an area prone to natural disasters, as come hurricanes, floods, fires, earthquakes or other natural and man-made disasters, the Cell PAK will still be able to function, keeping you connected to the rest of the world. Which reminds me, that would mean getting some sort of backup power for the rest of your devices (solar would be good) since a natural disaster might leave you disconnected from the power grid.

The Cell-PAK is a tough, self-contained, battery-powered, portable Wi-Fi HotSpot with built-in 3G cellular Internet access. It is both impact and water-resistant, featuring a MIL-spec rated case and on-board power pack. It will switch to the best available service automatically, playing nice with any available Internet service including DSL, cable or other Ethernet-based networks; to any serial modem-based service including POTS lines and satellites; or even the LAN-Cell PC-Card slot which is able to handle a 3G modem from any cellular carrier worldwide. Definitely over-rated for bloggers and casual users, that’s for sure.

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Barack Obama Presidential Flash Drive

Yes we can make a USB Flash Drive with Barack Obama’s face on it, and yes, some company can make a few bucks off of it.

Of course, there is more to this flash drive than just a picture of the 44th President of the United States. No, this 2GB flash drive has 30 MB worth of bonus material.

This material includes the famous “Race Speech” in MP3 format which is about a good hour’s worth of audio. In addition to that, there are several other speeches on the thumb drive in PDF format. The Obama thumb drive also includes an official photo of the man himself from the White House, that the user can print and frame.

This reminds me of that Ghostbusters thumb drive that PNY put out a while ago. That one had the movie in DRM format, and I’m surprised that the Obama drive doesn’t have some video footage of the president. I was hoping this administration would be all over that.

So is this the beginning of thumb drives with a theme of world leaders? Why not. I can’t imagine what other countries are doing in light of this. As for now, the Obama thumb drive is available for a low price of just $10. Any of that money going into a re-election campaign?

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Eizo Nanao New EcoView Monitors

Earth day may have been last week, but that didn’t stop Eizo Nanao from making monitors with an EcoView Sense feature. This feature allows the monitor to enter into sleep mode if no one moves in front of it for 40 seconds.

How is this possible? These new Eizo Nanao monitors come equipped with motion detectors that can somehow sense a moving form before the screen at maximum length of 120 centimeters.

So when you go to step out for a snack, you will come back to find your PC sleeping on the job. You may wish to disable this feature.

These new Eizo Nanao monitors come in two forms. The first is the 20-inch EV2023W with a 1600 x 900 resolution, 178 degree viewing angles, and a 3000:1 contrast ratio. The other is the 23-inch EV2303W, with a TN panel of 1920 x 1080 resolution, 160 degree viewing angles, and a 1000:1 contrast ratio.

Both of these monitors have a brightness of 250 cd/m2, along with a VGA and DVI-D input. Another eco-friendly feature is the monitors have an ambient light sensor that is designed to adjust the brightness according to the light of the room.

I don’t have a release date or a price on these eco-friendly monitors, but we will probably be seeing them quite soon.

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Flippy V fan

Weather is slowly but surely heating back up, but being Springtime it’s that awkward period where heat isn’t usually needed and it’s not time for the air conditioning either. There are days though that you might be tempted to flip on the air conditioning. For days like that when you’re just not ready to flip on the air, it will take a very well powered fan to cool things down. This fan from Vornado would be great during those days when you need things to cool back down a bit.

This pricey fan even looks better than the average fan you might see sitting around the average home or office. Then you add in that it will move air 40 feet and this is no ordinary fan. You can set it up in a convenient spot, then keep the remote control with you, making it so you don’t even have to get up to adjust the fan. It has three different speeds and an LED display on the fan itself. It also comes with a 3 year warranty to make sure that you get your money’s worth. This fan will cost you $79.99.

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Bridgestone color electronic paper

Over here at Coolest Gadgets, we’re extremely interested to see how technology is able to aid our everyday lives in various ways, where such aid could also become a point of contention when it comes to us humans getting lazier and lazier. After all, who could deny that the introduction of escalators, elevators and travellators at shopping malls and airports have greatly reduced our need to walk? What about Segways and the remote control which further reduce our need for physical activity? Well, one thing’s for sure, not all new technology turns us humans into fat, degenerate slobs who will eventually need a robot to take care of our personal needs. Bridgestone Corp. has come up with a color electronic paper (e-paper) device that also boasts pen input support. This device will bring together the “QR-LPD,” the company’s e-paper device using its proprietary electronic powder and granular material, with Wacom Co Ltd’s electromagnetic induction type pen input tablet and a color filter.

What’s so special about this, you ask? Well, for starters, Bridgestone has accelerated the screen refresh speed of the e-paper device to enable pen input,taking all of 0.8 seconds to refresh the display where its previous efforts of A4-sized e-paper device required around 10 to 15 seconds. That’s a whole world of improvement no matter how you look at it, and it will definitely bode well for new devices that require a fast refresh rate - something digital artists would love to enjoy.

Bridgestone has so far kept mum on further details of this technology, but it has quickened the refresh speed primarily by improving drive technologies. This will greatly enhance the device’s ability to follow the pen input and enabled it to display input texts and graphics smoothly, making it easy on your eyes in the process. The e-paper device will be powered by a passive matrix panel. No idea on when it will enter full commercial production though.

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